


Something Precious

by LaEnchanteRose



Category: Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Genre: Aww, Belle and Plumette besties FTW!, F/M, Female Friendship, Fluff, Friendship, Lumiette - Freeform, More tags to come!, Much heavier on the former than the latter, OOpS!, Plumiere, Pregnancy, Romance, adelle - Freeform, and I actually ship them more than Adam and Belle, because i can't resist, cute over-protective Lumiere, families, he loves them soooooooo much!, he's not about to let anything happen to Plumette, life after the curse, or their unborn child, they are just tooooooo cute!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-11-14 10:04:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11205789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaEnchanteRose/pseuds/LaEnchanteRose
Summary: Belle wants to be friends with Plumette- but Plumette isn't so sure. After all, that isn't the proper relationship for a servant to be having with her Queen! Then the ladies discover that, together, they are about to embark on the most precious of journeys- one that will form a special bond between them.





	1. Heat Wave

Ah, fresh air! Belle inhaled deeply as she stuck her head out her bedroom window. It was August, and the dog days had hit Villeneuve with a wallop- the village was in the grip of a major heat wave. As sweltering as it was outside, conditions within the castle walls were at least ten times worse. There was no breeze, obviously- and the air was stuffy, stale and downright suffocating!

And though everyone had been struggling with basically living in a sweat shack, the newly minted Queen had been hit especially hard. She felt light-headed a lot, and had found that she couldn’t stay indoors (or at least away from an open window!) very long without feeling physically ill (and sometimes that feeling persisted even AFTER she had gotten some outside air).

Adam had finally sent for the doctor yesterday, concerned that his wife might be being affected by more than just the heat. _And he was right_. Belle rubbed her mid-section and smiled, thinking about the wonderful news they had received.

After congratulating the couple, Père Robert had instructed his patient to take it easy- especially while the temperatures remained exceedingly high! And Belle intended to do just that- as soon as she recovered enough to dress, she was going to fetch some of her favorite books from the library and head out to the gardens for a morning- and perhaps an afternoon and possibly evening- of mental traveling. With any luck, Adam would join her once he finished attending to the duties required of a King. She let out a contented sigh just thinking about it. It was going to be- **WHUMP**!

 _What in the world was that?!_ Startled by the sudden noise, the young Queen yanked her head back inside. Something major had just fallen. _No, a THING wouldn’t make that kind of sound._ The instant the realization struck her, she was moving- racing out of the room, completely heedless of the fact that she was still in her nightgown (which was gauzy and therefore somewhat revealing!). Concern welling up within her, she rounded a corner- and just about collided with Chip!

“Chip, what’s going on?” she asked, trying to calm her racing heart.

“Plumette’s swooned!” the former tea cup cried, his eyes wide with fright.

 _With this crazy heat, I can’t exactly say I’m surprised!_ “It’ll be all right, Chip. I’ll go and see to her. In the meantime, I need you to run and fetch your mother,” Belle said, keeping her voice as steady and reassuring as she could.

“You can count on me, Belle! I’ll get Lumière, too!” Chip replied as he dashed off.

Belle hid a smile as she hurried to her “patient’s” side. That little boy was just about the most thoughtful person she had ever met!

Plumette was at the bottom of one of the staircases to the hallway connecting the east and west wings. It was the one closest to the latter- and the Belle suddenly knew what had happened. Her recently promoted lady-in-waiting had been on her way to do her morning check-in with her.

Feeling somewhat guilty (really, she could have given the poor girl a day off- with the heat as bad as it was, the servants could hardly be expected to perform all of their regular duties without a break here and there!), she knelt beside her supine friend (or at least that’s what she wished Plumette would be- try as she might, she couldn’t seem to convince her to let go of being a “proper” servant!) and began checking her over for bumps, bruises and even broken bones.

Fortunately, the (albeit very slightly!) elder of the two women didn’t seem to have sustained any injuries from the fall. Next, Belle moved to loosen her lady-in-waiting’s stays so she could breathe easier- only to discover that she wasn’t wearing any.

 _That’s odd,_ she thought. She couldn’t remember a time that Plumette had gone without her corset (or inhuman torture device, as the young Queen preferred to call it!)- but then it had never been this warm since she’d been at the castle either.

“Gracious me!”

Thank goodness! Mrs. Potts had finally arrived. A VERY panicky-looking Lumière was right behind her- and Garderobe, Cadenza and Cogsworth were right behind HIM.

_I didn’t mean for Chip to alert half the castle! Oh, well. No time to worry about that now._

“Chérie! Chérie!” Lumière cried, practically throwing himself down beside his unconscious wife and lifting her head onto his lap.

“We’ll set her to rights soon enough, dearie,” Mrs. Potts soothed, stepping forward to place a cool, damp cloth on Plumette’s forehead.

The maître d' did not look convinced. Looking even MORE worried (if that was even possible!), he placed his hand on the former feather duster’s stomach- which Belle found a bit puzzling.

Mrs. Potts, she couldn’t help noticing, was having a decidedly different reaction. The housekeeper was actually smiling, and she had a knowing look in her eyes.

“This heat, I declare!” Garderobe broke into the queen’s thoughts.

The diva settled herself opposite Lumière, then took out her fan and began waving it back and forth over her surrogate daughter's face, attempting to cool her further.

“Chérie, wake up! Please!” Lumière pleaded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an idea that's been percolating in my mind for awhile. I'd read a few BATB fics in which Belle and Plumette become close friends, and right away I loved the idea. I'd also seen a few headcanons on tumblrs and whatnot that included them being pregnant at the same time (I hope I didn't just spoil anything there, seeing as how I tried to keep it somewhat ambiguous about Plumette for now- but I figured it was fairly obvious by the end of this chapter anyway! ;))- and I loved THAT idea right away. So I decided there was only one thing to do: combine the two! Hence, this fic was born!
> 
> Some random notes about various things in this chapter:
> 
> For those of you who haven't read my 30 Day challenge oneshot collection, Plumette was promoted to Personal Lady-In-Waiting to the Queen shortly after the curse was broken in my headcanon.
> 
> As you've probably guessed, another part of my headcanon involves Garderobe and Cadenza being surrogate parents to Plumette. They took her under their wing when she arrived at the castle as a child (after losing her birth parents to the Plague). Stay tuned, as I have a story in the works about that, too!


	2. Wonderment

_What just happened?_ Plumette thought groggily. She had been heading to her Queen’s chambers what seemed like only a moment ago. Now, suddenly, she was flat on her back. Wait- not entirely. Her head was cradled in something soft and warm (then again, EVERYTHING felt warm these days!).

Then, as things finally came back into focus, she saw a very familiar pair of concerned blue eyes looking down at her- and realized that her pillow was her husband’s lap.

“Lumière, what happened?” she asked.

“You passed out, ma amour,” the maître d' told her, his voice full of love and concern.

 _Passed out…that means I fell…_ Plumette gasped as a horrible thought popped into her head.

“I-I was like this when you found me, right?” she asked worriedly.

“Oui. You did not land on your stomach,” Lumière assured her, smiling tenderly as he gave the aforementioned body part a gentle pat.

 _Thank heaven! Our petit trésor is safe!_ The lady-in-waiting let out a breath she had not realized she had been holding.

“How are you feeling, dearie?”

Plumette turned to see who had spoken- though she hardly needed to. Only one person in the entire castle called people “dearie”.

“I’m fine, Mrs. Potts,” she said, feeling a bit guilty for not being entirely truthful with the housekeeper. No, she wasn't technically ill- and her fainting spell hadn't been caused by anything remotely alarming. So she WAS fine in that sense.

However, Mrs. Potts had not asked if the erstwhile feather duster was sick, or even if she was all right. She had asked her how she was FEELING…and the answer to THAT question was most definitely not “fine”! (After all, there was a reason Lumière had grown concerned enough to make sure that Madame Belle wasn’t the only one Père Robert examined the day before!)

But what good would it do to tell the housekeeper that? There was really nothing she- or anyone- could do. Ultimately only the tincture of time would ease the lady-in-waiting’s symptoms.

 _Speaking of time, what on Earth is Cogsworth doing here?!_ For the first time Plumette had noticed the majordomo, standing off to the side with- _Cadenza?! Did I make such a racket falling that the entire castle heard me and came running?_

Looking around, it certainly appeared that way! Garderobe and Madame Belle were there, too, she realized, almost groaning aloud. She loved her friends- but how embarrassing!

Then, to her absolute horror, she felt her stomach roll and lodge itself in her throat.

 _Please, not NOW! Not in front of everyone!_ She silently pleaded _,_ sitting up and clutching her mid-section. If she didn’t find some sort of receptacle FAST…

Madame Belle must have read her mind. The young Queen suddenly leaped up, grabbed a decorative bowl (which, like the rest of the pottery in the castle, had been made by Jean, Mrs. Potts’s husband) off a nearby end table…and handed it over to the lady-in-waiting just in the nick of time!

“I wish I could just disappear!” Plumette wasn’t even aware she’d spoken aloud until her husband wrapped his arm around her.

“No need to be ashamed, chérie. You could not help it,” he comforted her.

 _Oui, but that doesn’t make it any less humiliating! Why couldn’t I have at least waited until I was alone?!_ The former feather duster felt like crying.

“Lumière is right. Sometimes these things just happen,” Garderobe spoke up, her voice gentle and loving as she reached out to give her surrogate daughter a hug.

“I guess,” Plumette conceded. Then she leaned back against Lumière, suddenly exhausted from her little misadventure.

“Perhaps you should lie down, ma amour,” the Frenchman suggested, sounding concerned again.

Plumette shook her head regretfully. Resting sounded great to her, but there was work to be done. “Non. I cannot neglect my duties,” she insisted.

“Your duties?! Ma coeur, you’ve just been sick! You need to rest,” Lumière said firmly.

“But not in that horrid excuse for servants' quarters! You can use our room,” Garderobe cut in, glancing at her husband, who nodded his agreement. (The servants wing of the castle happened to be where the heat was the worst- though the diva didn’t think much of it even in the best of circumstances!)  

“Really, I can’t. Whatever would the Master say if-“ Plumette began.

“Nothing,” a very familiar male voice cut her off.

Everyone turned to acknowledge their King.

“Last time I checked, I wasn’t a Beast anymore, Plumette. I think I can allow my servants time to rest if they need it,” Adam said, chuckling softly.

“But-“ the lady-in-waiting tried to protest.

“No buts! You’re taking the rest of the day off, and that’s final!” the King was even firmer than Lumière had been a few minutes earlier.

“Th-thanks,” Plumette stammered out.

“Now please, go and rest, ma délice de caramel. You’ve had a lot of excitement this morning and I’m worried about you,” Lumière pleaded. Then, dropping his voice to a whisper so no one else would hear, he quickly added, “BOTH of you”.

The erstwhile feather duster smiled. “We’ll- I’LL- be fine, I promise,” she assured her husband.

Then Madame Belle spoke up. “I have an idea, Plumette. Before all this happened, I was about to head to the gardens for some reading. Why don’t you join me? I think it would do you some good to get out in the fresh air,” she said.

That sounded WONDERFUL to the lady-in-waiting, but she knew she probably shouldn’t. “Thank you, Madame, but I don’t think that would be proper,” she replied.

Madame Belle shook her head. “How many times have I told you, call me Belle, and don’t worry so much about formality. I’m really not that kind of girl,” she told her lady-in-waiting.

Against her better judgement, Plumette decided to relent. “All right,” she agreed.

“Great! I’ll meet you there just as soon as I get my books- and go change,” the Queen said, blushing as she finally remembered what she was wearing. Then she headed up the stairs, leaving Plumette to stare after her bemusedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad to know you guys are liking this so far! As you guys have probably figured out, I plan to alternate between Belle's and Plumette's POVs. Not much else to say, other than that I really hope I'm doing an okay job of writing Garderobe. For some reason, I find her (and Cadenza!) rather challenging to write. Oh, and "ma délice de caramel" means "my caramel delight" in French.


	3. Shifting Moods

“Here you are dearies,” Mrs. Potts set down a tray containing little tea sandwiches, a bowl of fruit, two glasses and a carafe of milk.

“Thanks, Mrs. Potts,” Belle smiled gratefully at the housekeeper. It had been a LONG morning and the young Queen was positively ravenous (well, she WAS eating for two, she reminded herself!). Apparently Plumette was as well…because she suddenly started consuming sandwiches as if she were on her way to a fire! _Actually not that uncommon of an occurrence these days, thanks to Lumière’s little “curse leftover”!_ Belle thought wryly.

Getting out to the gardens had taken quite a bit longer than the ladies had anticipated. First, Belle had been delayed getting dressed, thanks to her morning sickness deciding to kick in. Then, after collecting her books, she had discovered that Plumette was still right where she’d left her (albeit no longer seated on the floor!)- trying to persuade her husband that it was perfectly fine for her to go outside.

For some reason, the maître d' had suddenly become very over-protective of his wife, fretting that she was sure to “over-exert” herself. She really should lie down for a while, he insisted. At last Belle (who found Lumière’s behavior rather odd- she knew he tended to be over the top about things- but this seemed extreme even for him!) had stepped in, pointing out that her lady-in-waiting could rest in the gardens just as easily as she could in bed. And besides, staying cooped up in the stuffy, sweltering castle could hardly be healthy!

That had been all it took. Almost before Belle OR Plumette knew what was happening, Lumière had hustled the latter out the kitchen door, insisting that she not spend “even one more MOMENT” indoors, lest she keel over again- or worse! It could have just been her imagination- it had happened so fast!- but the Queen THOUGHT that she had also seen the Frenchman give his wife’s belly a tender pat before leaving them.

In any case, by the time all of this was said and done, it had been practically lunchtime- hence why Mrs. Potts had just brought them nourishment.

“If you need anything else, just holler!” the housekeeper said as she prepared to head back to the kitchen.

“Actually, if it’s not too much trouble, could you bring us a few more sandwiches right away please? I- don’t think these are going to be enough for us,” Belle inquired, blushing as she glanced at the already nearly empty plate between her and Plumette.

“No trouble at all- and I have an even better idea. I’ll be right back!” the housekeeper replied, hurrying inside.

Within minutes she reappeared, this time with a baguette, a knife and a jar of her special currant jam.

“Thank-“ before Belle could finish, Mrs. Potts suddenly stumbled over a twig as she was putting the new food items beside the others. As she righted herself, the jam jar slipped from her grasp and hit the cobblestones. The glass shattered on impact, causing sticky blobs of jam to splatter all over- including on Plumette’s shoes.

“You klutz!” the maid exploded.

“Plumette! It was an accident!” Belle gasped, shocked at her lady-in-waiting’s behavior. She NEVER acted like that! In fact, the caring, gentle woman rarely even raised her voice.

“I don’t care WHAT it was! Now my shoes are ruined!” Plumette fumed.

 _Since when does she care so much about her shoes, especially her daily work ones?! Clearly she’s been spending too much time around Garderobe!_ Belle shook her head.

“No they’re not, dearie. A rag, a little soap and water, and they’ll be as good as new!” Mrs. Potts soothed the agitated maid (the housekeeper, Belle noticed, didn’t seem nearly as fazed by the former feather duster’s uncharacteristic outbursts).

This time, Plumette didn’t snap in response. Instead, she stared at the ground, her caramel cheeks taking on a reddish tinge.

“You’re right,” she sighed, before adding, “I don’t know what got into me. I’m sorry, Mrs. Potts, I’m sorry, Ma- Belle”

“Quite all right dearie. The heat can do strange things to a person sometimes,” Mrs. Potts replied- and Belle could have SWORN she was actually hiding a smile as she returned to the kitchen (presumably to fetch cleaning supplies!).

Deciding she must have been seeing things (after all, who would grin after being yelled at?!), the young Queen turned back to her companion. And that’s when she saw it- something was different about the other woman’s brown eyes.  They seemed…softer, somehow. There was something else, too. Belle couldn’t quite name it- but, somehow, it told her everything. Suddenly she knew what had to be behind everything that had been going on with her lady-in-waiting that day- and she could not believe she hadn’t guessed sooner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter, ended with another cliffhanger- I really know how to torture you, don't I?! MWAHAHA! And it only gets worse, I'm afraid. The next chapter won't be coming out until at least September. I'm going to be on vacation for virtually all of August- and there's no computer there (and I don't dare try to post anything from my phone- knowing my luck, the not-so-great Internet connection would cut out on me mid-post or something!). I HAVE, however, set myself a goal of getting it all written the old-fashioned way before I get back- so with any luck it will be up within days of my return!


End file.
